A figure dressed in black robes sat upon a rock, a staff in one hand. For a moment, an unexpected and yet likely name came to mind, but it couldn’t be. Even great wizards couldn’t be two places at once. Then all thought of the black figure vanished as the golem lifted another boulder, this one smaller and more easily targeted than before.
Raith barely dodged it before another followed. He wasn’t the most agile fellow and couldn’t keep this up, so he tilted his staff forward and focused. With a loud bang, the next head-sized boulder shattered two paces from him on an invisible barrier, the shards scattering. Dust cascaded around him as Raith trembled from the impact. Another rock did the same, then another and another, each one testing his strength, each one pushing the barrier closer to him.
The golem advanced, still hurling boulders as it came, pulling stone from its own chest and throwing it. As if made of liquid rock, it filled the hole in its chest from its own body as it absorbed more stone from the ground while walking, reforming itself spontaneously. The distance between them quickly shortened and a surge of panic struck Raith. He had one chance to drop the barrier and destroy this thing and then run for his life, for the robed figure would go next and his strength was spent.
Suddenly an idea hit him as the golem loomed overhead. He dropped the shield and again used the levitation spell, hurling the golem backward straight at the robed figure, hoping to kill two birds with one stone. The figure never even moved as the golem shattered on him and fragments flew everywhere. A cloud of dust obscured the result, but the golem’s head rolled straight toward him, between his legs, and came to rest a few feet behind. He had done it!
Then movement caught his eye. The cloud faded to reveal the robed figure without a mark upon it, for it had erected its own barrier. It rose to its feet and as Raith fumbled for a magic item, the sound of stone moving came from behind. He turned and saw in horror that the golem had reformed and was swinging a crushing fist at him. Ribs snapped like twigs as he was flung to the ground, the last healing vial breaking with the impact. The golem took one step and hurled another rock down at him, smashing his pelvis to bits. He would have screamed but for the stabbing pain in his lungs that left him gasping at his murderer.
The golem raised a final boulder.
“Stop.”
The golem halted.
Soft footsteps signaled the approaching figure, which wore a badly singed robe but walked without pain. The figure stopped and gestured for the golem to move aside.
“You,” Raith wheezed, more certain of the identity now that he recognized something he’d seen at the banquet in Olliana. He’d seen drawings of it many times before and would know it anywhere.
“You no doubt recognize my staff,” answered the figure in calm approval, “as all serious wizards should. And of course, you’re presence here is a great sign of your seriousness. You have come for the soclarin.”
Raith didn’t bother to confirm it. The voice sounded different than he remembered, but then his senses were beginning to fail him. He’d already lost feeling in his legs.
“It was you who stole the scroll,” observed the figure.
“Yes,” Raith confessed, seeing little reason to hide his secrets anymore. He would soon have no need of them.
“Personally, or did you hire someone?”
“Hired.”
“And then killed them upon delivery?”
Raith nodded slightly, suddenly overcome with sorrow for what was happening to him. The figure could heal him but clearly wasn’t going to despite this going against everything Raith knew about the man whose voice he heard. Then again, so did allowing a golem to bludgeon him to death.
“Excellent. And you have the scroll with you?”
Again Raith nodded, but the figure made no move to retrieve it.
“Did you not wonder why I left the gate open?” the figure asked. “Or did you, like everyone else, assume I had gone forever and perhaps someone else had done it?”
Raith struggled to acquit himself well but relinquished his pride as a spasm shook him and blood trickled out his mouth. “I don’t know,” he confessed.
“That’s because you are a fool,” replied the figure coldly, watching without compassion as the young wizard slumped further. “You, my dear boy, are the reason the gate is open. I needed to know who had the stolen scroll, who outside the court knew about soclarin, as the individual would come looking for it. You triggered the spell I put on the gate to alert me when you stepped through, and you have met your end via the golem I left waiting for you. For all your ambition, you are, like so many, blinded by it, and therefore come to the pathetic end that is your destiny.” The figure chuckled. “And in the process, your ambition has caused the dragons to be free to doom your world.”
Feeling a dreamy haze overtake him, Raith said quietly, “But I want the dragons free.”
“And so shall they be.”
Surprised, Raith asked, “You won’t close…” His breath failed him.
“No. Only you knew of the ore, and you’ll not leave here alive. No
